Auguft. 1765. many of us fuffered fo of us fuffered fo feverely, that we were afraid to lie down in our beds; nor were those on board in a much better fituation than those on fhore, for great numbers of thefe creatures being carried into the fhip with the wood, they took poffefsion of every birth, and left the poor feamen no place of rest either below or upon the deck. As foon as we were fettled in our new habitations, I fent out parties to difcover the haunts of the cattle, fome of which were found but at a great distance from the tents, and the beasts were so shy that it was very difficult to get a shot at them. Some of the parties which, when their haunts had been discovered, were fent out to kill them, were abfent three days and nights before they could fucceed; and when a bullock had been dragged seven or eight miles through fuch woods and lawns as have just been described, to the tents, it was generally full of fly-blows, and ftunk fo as to be unfit for ufe: nor was this the worft, for the fatigue of the men in bringing down the carcass, and the intolerable heat they suffered from the climate and the labour, frequently brought on fevers which laid them up. Poultry however we procured upon easier terms: there was great plenty of birds, and they were eafily killed; but the flesh of the best of them was very ill-tafted, and such was the heat of the climate that within an hour after they were killed it was as green as grafs, and fwarmed with maggots. Our principal resource for fresh meat, was the wild hog, with which the inland abounds. These creatures are very fierce, and fome Auguft. and fome of them fo large that a carcafe fre- 175. quently weighed two hundred pounds. We killed them without much difficulty, but a Black belonging to the Tamar contrived a method to fnare them, fo that we took great numbers of them alive, which was an unfpeakable advantage; for it not only ensured our eating the fesh while it was sweet, but enabled us to send a good number of them on board as fea-ftores. In the mean time we were very defirous of procuring fome beef in an eatable ftate, with lefs rifk and labour, and Mr. Gore, one of our mates, at last, discovered a pleasant spot upon the northweft part of the inland, where cattle were in great plenty, and whence they might be brought to the tents by fea. To this place therefore I dispatched a party, with a tent for their accommodation, and fent the boats every day to fetch what they fhould kill; fometimes however there broke fuch a fea upon the rocks that it was impoffible to approach them, and the Tamar's boat unhappily lost three of her beft men by attempting it. We were now, upon the whole, pretty well fupplied with provifions, especially as we baked fresh bread every day for the fick; and the fatigue of our people being lefs, there were fewer ill with the fever: but feveral of them were fo much difordered by eating of a very fine looking fifh which we caught here, that their recovery was for a long time doubtful. The Author of the Account of Lord Anson's Voyage fays, that the people on board the Centurion. thought it prudent to abftain from fish, as the few VOL. I. L which Auguft. 1765. which they caught at their firft arrival furfeited those who eat of them. But not attending fufficiently to this caution, and too hastily taking the word furfeit in its literal and common acceptation, we imagined that thofe who tafted the fish when Lord Anfon firft came hither, were made fick merely by eating too much: whereas, if that had been the cafe, there would have been no reason for totally abftaining afterwards, but only eating temperately. We however bought our knowledge by experience, which we might have had cheaper; for though all our people who tasted this fish, eat fparingly, they were all foon afterwards dangeroufly ill. Befides the fruit that has been mentioned already, this island produces cotton and indigo in abundance, and would certainly be of great value if it was fituated in the Weft-Indies. The furgeon of the Tamar enclosed a large fpot of ground here, and made a very pretty garden, but we did not ftay long enough to derive any advantage from it. While we lay here, I fent the Tamar to examine the island of Saypan, which is much larger than Tinian, rifes higher, and, in my opinion, has a much pleasanter appearance. She anchored to the leeward of it, at the distance of a mile from the shore, and in about ten fathom water, with much the fame kind of ground as we had in the road of Tinian. Her people landed upon a fine fandy beach which is fix or feven miles long, and walked up into the woods, where they faw many trees which were very fit for topmafts. They faw no fowls, 176. Auguft. Monday 30. fowls, nor any tracks of cattle; but of hogs and guanicoes there was plenty. They found no fresh water near the beach, but faw a large pond inland, which they did not examine. They faw large heaps of pearl`oyfter-shells thrown up together, and other figns of people having been there not long before: poffibly the Spaniards may go thither at fome feafons of the year, and carry on a pearl fishery. They alfo faw many of those square pyramidal pillars which are to be found at Tinian, and which are particularly described in the Account of Lord Anfon's Voyage. On Monday the 30th of September, having now September. been here nine weeks, and our fick being pretty well recovered, I ordered the tents to be ftruck, and with the forge and oven carried back to the ship; I also laid in about two thousand cocoanuts, which I had experienced to be so powerful a remedy for the fcurvy, and the next day I weighed, October. hoping that before we should get the length of the Bashé Islands, the N. E. monfoon would be set in. I stood along the fhore to take in the beef-hunters; but we had very little wind this day and the next Wednes, 2. till the evening, when it came to the weftward and blew fresh: I then ftood to the northward till the morning of the 3d, when we made Anatacan, an Thursd. 3. inland that is remarkably high, and the fame that was first fallen in with by Lord Anson. Tuesday f 1765. October. CHA P. XII. The Run from Tinian to Pulo Timoan, with Some Account of that Island, its Inhabitants and Productions, and thence to Batavia. W E continued our course till Thursday the 10th, when being in latitude 18° 33′ N, Thurfd, 10. longitude 136° 50' E. we found the ship two and twenty miles to the fouthward of her account, which must have been the effect of a strong current in that direction. The variation here was 5° Jo E., and for fome time we found it regularly decreasing, fo that on the 19th, being in latitude 21° 10' N., longitude 124° 17′ E., the needle pointed due north. Friday 18. On the 18th, we had found the ship eighteen miles to the northward of her account, and faw feveral land birds about the fhip, which appeared to be very much tired: we caught one as it was refting upon the booms, and found it very remarkable. It was about as big as a goofe, and all over as white as fnow, except the legs and beak which were black; the beak was curved, and of fo great a length and thickness, that it is not eafy to conceive how the muscles of the neck, which was about a foot long and as fmall as that of a crane, could support it. We kept it about four months upon biscuit and water, but it then died, apparently for want of nourishment, being almoft as |